1 Kings 6

1 Then it happened that, in the four hundred and eightieth year after the sons of Israel departed from the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of the reign of Solomon over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month, the house of the Lord began to be built.

And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which [is] the second month, that he began to build the house of the LORD.

2 Now the house, which king Solomon was building to the Lord, was sixty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in width, and thirty cubits in height.

And the house which the king built to the Lord [was] forty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and its height five and twenty cubits.

3 And a portico was before the temple, of twenty cubits in length, in accord with the measure of the width of the temple. And it had ten cubits of width before the face of the temple.

And the porch in front of the temple—twenty cubits [was] its length according to the breadth of the house in front of the house: and he built the house, and finished it.

4 And he made oblique windows in the temple.

And he made to the house secret windows inclining inward.

5 And upon the wall of the temple, he built panels on all sides, in the walls of the house around the temple and the oracle. And he made side chambers all around.

And against the wall of the house he set chambers round about the temple and the ark.

6 The flooring on the bottom level held five cubits in width, and the middle floor was six cubits in width, and the third floor held seven cubits in width. Then he positioned beams on the house all around the outside, in such a way that they would not be fastened to the walls of the temple.

The under side [was] five cubits broad, and the middle [part] six, and the third [was] seven cubits broad; for he formed an interval to the house round about without the house, that they might not touch the walls of the house.

7 Now the house, while it was being built, was made from cut and finished stones. And so, neither mallet, nor chisel, nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built.

And the house was built in the construction of it with rough hewn stones: and there was not heard in the house in the building of it hammer or axe, or any iron tool.

8 The door at the side of the middle section was to the right of the house. And they would ascend along winding stairs to the middle level, and from the middle level to the third level.

And the porch of the under side [was] below the right wing of the house, and [there was] a winding ascent into the middle [chamber], and from the middle to the third story.

9 And he built the house, and finished it. And he overlaid the house with boards of cedar.

So he built the house and finished it; and he made the ceiling of the house with cedars.

10 And he built a paneling over the entire house, five cubits in height, and he covered the house with cedar wood.

And he made the partitions through all the house, each five cubits high, and enclosed each partition with cedar boards.

11 And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying:

12 “Concerning this house, which you are building: if you will walk in my precepts, and carry out my judgments, and keep all my commandments, advancing by them, I will confirm my word to you, which I spoke to your father David.

13 And I will dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel, and I will not forsake my people Israel.”

14 And so, Solomon built the house, and finished it.

15 And he built the walls of the house, on the interior, with panels of cedar, from the floor of the house, to the top of the walls, and even to the ceiling. He covered it with cedar wood on the interior. And he overlaid the floor of the house with panels of spruce.

And he framed the walls of the house within with cedar boards, from the floor of the house and on to the inner walls and to the beams: he lined the parts enclosed with boards within, and compassed the inward parts of the house with planks of fir.

16 And he built panels of cedar, of twenty cubits, at the back part of the temple, from the floor even to the top. And he made the inner house of the oracle as the Holy of Holies.

And he built the twenty cubits from the top of the wall, one side from the floor to the beams, and he made it from the oracle to the most holy place.

17 And the temple itself, before the doors of the oracle, was forty cubits.

And the temple was forty cubits [in extent],

18 And the entire house was clothed with cedar on the interior, having its turnings and junctures artfully wrought, with carvings projecting outward. Everything was clothed with panels of cedar. And no stone at all was able to be seen in the wall.

19 Now he made the oracle in the middle of the house, in the inner part, so that he might station the ark of the covenant of the Lord there.

in front of the oracle in the midst of the house within, [in order] to put there the ark of the covenant of the Lord.

20 And the oracle held twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in width, and twenty cubits in height. And he covered and clothed it with the purest gold. Then, too, he clothed the altar in cedar.

The length [was] twenty cubits, and the breadth [was] twenty cubits, and the height of it was twenty cubits. And he covered it with perfect gold, and he made an altar in front of the oracle, and covered it with gold.

21 Also, the house before the oracle, he covered with the purest gold, and he fastened the plates with nails of gold.

And he covered the whole house with gold, till he had finished [gilding] the whole house.

22 And there was nothing in the temple that was not covered with gold. Moreover, the entire altar of the oracle he overlaid with gold.

23 And he made in the oracle two cherubim from wood of the olive tree, of ten cubits in height.

And he made in the oracle two cherubs of ten cubits measured size.

24 One wing of a cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of a cherub was five cubits, that is, having ten cubits from the summit of one wing even to the summit of the other wing.

And the wing of one cherub was five cubits, and his other wing was five cubits; ten cubits from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other wing.

25 Likewise, the second cherub was ten cubits. And the measure was equal and the work was one, in the two cherubim,

Thus it was with the other cherub, both were alike finished with one measure.

26 that is, one cherub had a height of ten cubits, and similarly the second cherub.

And the height of the one cherub [was] ten cubits, and so [was it] with the second cherub.

27 And he stationed the cherubim in the middle of the inner temple. And the cherubim extended their wings, and the wing of the one was touching the wall, and the wing of the second cherub was touching the other wall. But the other wings, in the middle of the temple, were touching each another.

And both the cherubs [were] in the midst of the innermost part of the house; and they spread out their wings, and one wing touched the wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings in the midst of the house touched each other.

28 He also overlaid the cherubim with gold.

And he covered the cherubs with gold.

29 And all the walls of the temple all around he engraved with diverse carvings and turnings. And he made in them cherubim, and palm trees, and various images, as if these were projecting out, and going forth from, the wall.

He graved all the walls of the house round about with the graving of cherubs, and [he sculptured] palm trees within and without [the house].

30 Then, too, the floor of the house he overlaid with gold within and without.

And he covered the floor of the house within and without with gold.

31 And at the entrance of the oracle, he made little doors, from wood of the olive tree, with posts of five corners.

And for the door-way of the oracle he made doors of juniper wood, [there were] porches in a four-fold way.

32 And there were two doors, from wood of the olive tree. And he carved upon them pictures of cherubim, and images of palm trees, and very prominent figures. And he overlaid these with gold. And he covered the cherubim, as well as the palm trees and the other things, with gold.

33 And he made, at the entrance of the temple, posts from wood of the olive tree, with four corners,

34 and two doors, from wood of the spruce tree, on the other side. And each door was double, and so it opened by folding upon itself.

In both the doors [were] planks of fir; the one door had two leaves and their hinges, and the other door had two leaves and turned [on hinges],

35 And he carved cherubim, and palm trees, and very prominent engravings. And he covered everything with gold plates, worked to be perfectly square.

being carved with cherubs, and [there were] palm-trees and open flower-leaves, and it [was] overlaid with gold gilt upon the engraving.

36 And he built the inner atrium with three rows of polished stones, and one row of cedar wood.

And he built the inner court, three rows of hewn stones, and a row of wrought cedar round about, and he made the curtain of the court of the porch of the house that was in front of the temple.

37 In the fourth year, the house of the Lord was founded, in the month of Ziv.

38 And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was perfected in all its works and in all its equipment. And he built it for seven years.